The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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BEST AND WORST Best Win: Ohio State The Wolverines and Buckeyes were on a collision course all season long, but Michigan came into the game with a Blake Corum-sized hole to fill in the lineup, even if he did try to give it a go after a knee injury suf - fered against Illinois. It was not meant to be for him, but the show had to go on for a Michigan team facing a "win and in" College Football Playoff scenario. After pulling off the victory over the No. 2-ranked Buckeyes, Mike Sainristil grabbed a maize and blue flag and ran to midfield to plant it at the 50-yard line in Ohio Stadium, joined by teammates who then posed for cameras to immortalize the moment. By decree from Jim Harbaugh, the flag now hangs in the Towsley Museum at Schembechler Hall to commemorate the 45-23 win over the Buckeyes. Worst Loss: TCU The loss to the TCU Horned Frogs in the Fiesta Bowl stings for a variety of reasons, chief among them the fact that U-M was favored and let an opportunity slip away. A laundry list of errors and bad breaks put Michi - gan in a hole that proved ultimately too big to crawl out of on a day when it played its worst football of the season. The Wolverines marched down the field on their first drive of the game but turned the ball over on downs on the goal line after a botched trick play, followed by a pick-six on the next drive to give TCU an early 7-0 lead. U-M would go down 21-3 before a pair of Jake Moody field goals kept them in the game. The Wolverines made a hard charge in the second half, eventually having the score within 41-38 with 14:13 to go in the contest. The defense was unable to get the stop it needed in a critical moment with TCU picking up 8-of-16 attempts on third down, while U-M was 3-for- 15 in combined third- and fourth-down efficiency. That combined with two pick-sixes and a fumble on the goal line was too much to overcome in the College Football Playoff semifinal. THE SEASON Game-By-Game First Yards Yards Passes Had Fumbles Penalties Summary Score Downs Rush Pass Com./Att. Int. No./Lost No./Yards Attendance Colorado State 7 14 82 137 16/20 1 1/1 0/0 109,295 Michigan 51 25 234 206 18/28 0 0/0 1/10 Home Hawai'i 10 13 148 113 13/37 0 0/0 1/10 110,012 Michigan 56 23 285 320 17/22 1 1/0 3/35 Home Connecticut 0 6 86 24 5/20 0 3/1 5/45 109,639 Michigan 59 26 192 273 21/26 0 0/0 4/24 Home Maryland 27 23 128 269 25/39 2 1/1 1/5 110,225 Michigan 34 22 243 220 18/26 0 3/1 1/15 Home Michigan 27 24 172 155 18/24 0 1/0 5/50 Away Iowa 14 16 35 67 21/31 0 0/0 5/59 69,250 Michigan 31 26 165 304 28/36 1 1/0 10/85 Away Indiana 10 21 19 203 25/49 1 0/0 4/50 50,805 Penn State 17 10 111 157 12/29 0 0/0 5/55 110,812 Michigan 41 28 418 145 17/24 1 2/0 9/61 Home Michigan State 7 11 37 215 17/30 1 1/0 7/75 111,083 Michigan 29 27 276 167 15/26 0 1/1 4/25 Home Michigan 52 22 282 151 13/27 0 0/0 3/20 Away Rutgers 17 5 14 166 14/29 3 0/0 5/45 51,117 Nebraska 3 8 75 71 10/20 0 2/0 4/30 110,192 Michigan 34 27 264 148 10/20 0 1/0 1/15 Home Illinois 17 20 148 178 21/30 0 1/0 4/40 110,433 Michigan 19 18 168 208 18/34 0 2/1 4/25 Home Michigan 45 16 252 349 13-25 0 0/0 5/30 Away Ohio State 23 23 143 278 31-48 2 0/0 9/91 106,787 Purdue 22 27 90 366 32/47 2 2/0 5/38 Neutral Michigan 43 17 225 161 11/17 1 0/0 3/25 67,107 TCU 51 19 263 225 14/29 2 1/1 7/85 Neutral Michigan 45 25 186 342 21/35 2 2/1 5/28 71,723 Senior offensive lineman Trente Jones and the Wolverines planted the Block M flag at mid- field at the Horseshoe after Michigan's 45-23 victory against Ohio State in Columbus. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY 138 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2023 FOOTBALL PREVIEW